News Forum - Pattaya tourist leaders call for local Sandbox as hotel bookings drop

[Thaiger]

“The permit to arrive in Thailand is the least of the problems for many potential international tourists as airlines around the world have been cancelling services.” Whilst the southern island of Phuket appears to be a winner in the government’s recent, and selective, alterations to its Thailand Pass options, Thailand’s other main tourist hot spot outside Bangkok, Pattaya, has again been left out in the cold. The CCSA last Tuesday afternoon suspended the Test & Go re-entry option until at least January 4 when the system will be reviewed. But the government has promised to honour all existing, and approved, Test […]

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[Jason]

The only reason I can see why this decision has been made, is that Phuket is an island, making the entry points easier to control. Pattaya is a beach side resort and not an island, so harder, if not impossible to control the movement of people. Having said that there are other island resort spots that could gainfully continue as sandbox locations. 

There is also the advent of booster shots (the third dose). In my own country, 2 million people have already had boosters and as of January 4 another 7 million will be eligible, with a further 13 million at the end of January 2022. That's happening all over the world. The reaction of most countries about Omicron is an abundance of caution (and Thailand is no different in that respect). There's a phobia about Omicron, because it is more virulent. There is no proof that it is more deadly than Delta, in fact it seems it is about one fifth as potent as Delta in terms of serious illness and death. 

So while caution is wise with a new strain, the latest government action to suspend test and go should be reviewed early in the new year and reinstated, once more data on Omicron is forthcoming (and it will be).

[Fanta]

“Extremely high vaccination rates”  maybe, just maybe,  for the locals but I suspect the people who travel to work in Pattaya do not have extremely high vaccination rates. 

[riclag]

“The Thaiger would recommend, if you are still coming to Thailand over the next few weeks, to keep in contact with your airline as well as your local embassy. Also, keep reading the Thailand Pass website as well as the tatnews.org website”.

4 hoops and countless others! 
I remember the days when the hoops were basically all about the IO requirements in Thailand!
 

[longwood50]

3 hours ago, Thaiger said:

The permit to arrive in Thailand is the least of the problems for many potential international tourists as airlines around the world have been cancelling services.”

Gosh, who would have predicted that.